Manila  - The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday urged Asian countries to invest in building disaster-resistant hospitals and health facilities, which are critical lifelines during calamities and other emergencies.

WHO said governments must ensure that hospitals and other health facilities can withstand earthquakes and other calamities amid increasing natural and man-made disasters.

It also stressed the need to ensure that health workers are trained to treat injuries and care for those affected by emergencies.

The challenge to make hospitals and health facilities safe in emergencies will be the main theme of World Health Day on Tuesday, WHO said.

"In disasters and emergencies, health facilities are crucial to survival," said Shin Young-Soo, WHO regional director for the Western Pacific. "Health facilities must be structurally resilient, well equipped and staffed, and with health workers who are properly trained to respond."

Shin said it was especially important for Western Pacific countries to have disaster-resistant hospitals as the region accounted for more than a quarter of the world's natural disasters in the past 10 years, with significant damage to health facilities.

The region, composed of 37 countries and areas in Asia and the Pacific, is highly vulnerable to disasters such as tropical cyclones, floods, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, as well as the consequences of climate change.

There are also emerging dangers, such as biological and chemical threats, armed conflict and terrorism and environmental emergencies.

According to the World Disasters Report 2006, close to 185,000 people in the Western Pacific region were killed by natural disasters between 1996 and 2005.

Recent emergencies include the strong earthquake in May 2008 in Sichuan, China, which destroyed or damaged more than half of the province's 6,800 hospitals, forcing tens of thousands of people to see treatment elsewhere.

In the Philippines, typhoon Fengshen damaged or destroyed 89 hospitals and health facilities in June 2008, while a tsunami in 2007 damaged many hospitals and health facilities in Solomon Islands, exposing communities to asbestos.

"Research shows that damage to health facilities can cost up to 60 per cent of annual government health spending, so making facilities safe can sometimes be a means of actually saving money," Shin said.

WHO urged hospitals to brace or reinforce their structures, which studies have found to be cost effective in protecting facilities. It also called on hospital administrators and managers to regularly perform safety assessments. (dpa)